Portuguese police launch renewed search for Madeleine McCann

Portuguese police have launched a new search for Madeleine McCann in Portugal’s Algarve region where the British three-year-old vanished while on holiday with her family in 2007.

The renewed operation, requested by German authorities, marks a significant development in the long-running and internationally followed case.

Maddie disappeared from her bed at a resort in Praia da Luz on the evening of May 3, 2007. Her disappearance sparked a global media frenzy and became one of the most high-profile missing person cases in recent history. Despite years of investigations spanning multiple countries, her whereabouts remain unknown.

Now, nearly two decades later, authorities are taking new steps in the search. According to Portugal’s Judicial Police, they are executing a European Investigation Order on behalf of the public prosecutor’s office in the German city of Braunschweig.

The police noted that “a wide range of investigations, namely search warrants” would be carried out between June 2-6 in Portugal’s Municipality of Lagos and all evidence seized would be handed over to Germany’s Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA).

The search for traces of the child’s body will focus on an area between Praia da Luz, a civil parish belonging to Lagos, according to news reports by CNN Portugal and German newspaper Bild.

Braunschweig prosecutors told Reuters “criminal procedural measures” related to the McCann case were taking place in Portugal involving the BKA and Portuguese law enforcement but did not provide further details.

London’s Metropolitan Police said they were aware of searches carried out by the BKA in Portugal, adding the force was not present there but would “support our international colleagues where necessary”.

News of the renewed searches comes as a major step forward in the long-running mystery, the most recent development came in 2023 when investigators announced they were conducting searches at a reservoir located inland from where Maddie went missing.

Portugal’s Judicial Police released a statement at the time confirming the search efforts were underway.

“In view of the news made public, the Judiciary Police confirms that, regarding the investigation into the disappearance of an English child, which occurred in the Algarve in 2007, steps are still being taken to fully clarify the situation,” the statement read.

“Within the scope of international cooperation, in the next few days in the Algarve region, new searches will be carried out, coordinated by the Judiciary Police, at the request of the German Authorities (BKA) and with the presence of the British Authorities.

“Information will be provided in due course on the outcome of the proceedings.”

Unfortunately, authorities did not uncover any new evidence during that operation.

Read more: Heartbreaking milestone: Madeleine McCann’s parents deliver emotional message on her 21st birthday

-with Reuters.